The Crows have made a late change to their team to play Gold Coast on Saturday, with Sam Shaw coming in for his first game of the season.
Shaw replaces defender Daniel Talia, who will miss through illness unrelated to the concussion he suffered last weekend. It will be Shaw’s first game since Round 21, 2014.
Second-gamer Rory Atkins will start as Adelaide’s substitute. Rory Sloane, Ricky Henderson and Riley Knight will also begin on the bench. The Suns are unchanged, with Josh Glenn to wear the green vest.
Rory Sloane will return from a fractured cheekbone in the match at Adelaide Oval.
Sloane, 25, hasn’t played since suffering the injury for the second time this season in the Club’s win over Brisbane at the Gabba in Round 13. He missed a month after fracturing his cheekbone for the first time against Gold Coast in May.
The 2013 Crows Club Champion has been able to participate in non-contact drills for the majority of his rehabilitation. He joined in main training wearing a helmet on Thursday, and has been cleared to play.
Sloane is the only addition to the team that beat Port Adelaide. He returns at the expense of young midfielder Matt Crouch, who has been omitted.
Read the AFL.com.au preview of Saturday’s clash with the Suns
Interim Coach Scott Camporeale said Sloane was an important inclusion.
“We definitely love having him (Sloane) in there. He’s a great leader of this footy club. He brings something different and never gives up,” Camporeale said.
“He’s a great role model for the group. As I’ve said to all the leaders, leadership is about playing your role as well. He’ll be important, no doubt, especially in the conditions, if it is wet.”
Camporeale praised the form of a number of players currently outside the AFL team.
Midfielders Cam Ellis-Yolmen, Sam Kerridge, Jarryd Lyons and Mitch Grigg, and utilities Shaw and Podsiadly were among the standouts in the Club’s big SANFL win over North Adelaide last weekend.
“There are some real quality players pushing for selection. It’s great because the guys in the AFL know they need to perform to hold their spot,” Camporeale said.
“Ellis-Yolmen went back with an outstanding attitude. Nathan van Berlo went back (with) the same (attitude), Kerridge is coming back off long-term (injury) and he was excellent. Jarryd Lyons hasn’t put a foot wrong for a month or so and Sam Shaw backed up again.
“I’m really impressed … it’s a good problem to have.”
A few thousand tickets remain available at the gate for the match against Gold Coast, which starts at 1:40pm (local time). Gates open at midday. Full match day information. Unfortunately, due to the weather forecast the scheduled Kick and Catch for after the game has been cancelled.
Adelaide’s SANFL team takes on West Adelaide at Richmond from 2:10pm on Sunday. Ticketed Crows members receive free entry to the Club’s minor-round SANFL matches.
The AFL team is:
IN: Rory Sloane, Sam Shaw
OUT: Matt Crouch (omitted), Daniel Talia (illness)
B: Ricky Henderson, Sam Shaw, Jake Lever
HB: Rory Laird, Kyle Hartigan, Luke Brown
C: Richard Douglas, Scott Thompson, Brodie Smith
HF: Tom Lynch, Taylor Walker, Charlie Cameron
F: Eddie Betts, Josh Jenkins, Patrick Dangerfield
RUCK: Sam Jacobs, Matthew Wright, Rory Sloane
INTERCHANGE: David Mackay, Riley Knight, Brodie Martin, Rory Atkins
EMERGENCIES: James Podsiadly, Sam Shaw, Jarryd Lyons
